The Toys R Us 2012 Fan Poll

After all the fan poll action in the past month voting for the Marvel series 50 lineup Toys R Us hits us with their box set poll here!  Based off of the current Avengers vs X-Men story this poll offers up 3 characters from each side.  In the X-Men's corner we see Phoenix Force powered Cyclops, Emma Frost and Colossus while on the Avengers side we are offered an updated Scarlet Witch, Protector and the Phoenix buster Iron Man.  I know which 4 I would like in this set but I am curious to see where it settles up and if we get a 2 pack of the remaining characters as in reality all 6 of these would be great Minimates to own!

Day 508

Day 508 May 22^nd

Marvel Minimates TRU Avengers wave:

TRU exclusive Hawkeye

            DST really knocked this one out of the park, not only getting the look of Hawkeye in the movie but also adding the detail of a quiver that can actually hold the loose individual arrows!!!  This is fast becoming one of my favourite Minimates!

Day 505

Day 505  May 19^th

Marvel Minimates TRU Avengers wave:

TRU exclusive Nick Fury

            I totally dig the new holster piece that DST has designed; it’s not too bulky and holds the gun nice and snug!  They did a great job that this Nick Fury Minimate sure is one BMF!

Day 503

Day 503 May 17^th

Marvel Minimates TRU Avengers wave:

TRU exclusive Loki

            I totally dig how they updated Lokis look for the Avengers movie.  The cloak and new helmet look great and DST nailed the look of the staff!

Day 434

Day 434 March 9^th

TRU exclusive Black and White Dracula

            The pack mate to the black and white Frankenstein’s monster is none other than the great Dracula!  For the longest time vampires were my favourite monsters.  I read pretty much anything I could find that had vampires in it and watched most movies about them too.  While I still really enjoy them they have been unseated as the top monster spot these days but nothing beats a classic black and white Dracula!

Day 433

Day 433 March 8^th

TRU exclusive Black and White Frankenstein’s Monster

            I love how DST has done this as part of the Toys R Us exclusives; giving us the main monsters done in black and white much like the classic films they are based off of.  I can’t put my finger on it but there is nothing lacking in this Minimate just because he is in black and white; Frankenstein’s monster still looks as great here as he does in the regular coloured release!

Day 420

Day 420 February 24^th

TRU exclusive Clank

Here we have the partner to Ratchet the robot Clank.  I really dig how DST made him especially the use of typical arms for legs to match the source material better.  The details are nice and crisp and overall he looks great!

Day 419

Day 419 February 23^rd

TRU exclusive Ratchet

As part of a deal to produce a line of Sony Playstation Minimates DST made 2-packs based on various games such as Ratchet from Ratchet & Clank.  Out of the 4 sets in this wave this was the only one I had not been able to get until recently.  Honestly I was not sure what to expect as I have not played the games or anything so I was basically approaching this set blind outside of knowing the names from advertisements.  Even in the package I was still unsure but one opened Ratchet really blew me away!  He is solid and seems bigger than a standard Minimate even though he is not; he is just really well made and looks great!  I love the detailing and the overall feel of him.  My only concern is that his one arm seems to be fused at the elbow joint; I am going to have to take some time when I can to see if I can get that to open up and move.  This is defiantly a keeper for the random collection!

Day 418

Day 418 February 22^nd

TRU exclusive Dum Dum Dugan

Originally in the comics Dum Dum is one of Nick Fury’s closest agents in SHIELD the Captain America movie has him as member of a select group of soldiers that were rescued by Cap.  DST has captured his look perfectly I feel and I am all too happy to use him as a stand in until they make a comic version of him!

Day 417

Day 417 February 21^st

TRU exclusive Golden Age Captain America

The way that they handled this costume in the movie was a great piece of writing!  Instead of sending the only super soldier off to fight in the war they wanted to lock him in a lab to study and attempt to recreate the serum.  Instead Cap hooks up helping to tour the country selling war bonds and helping to keep the countries moral high!

Day 416

Day 416 February 20^th

TRU exclusive Gabe Jones

Part of the TRU wave for the Captain America movie Minimates, Gabe Jones looks great and holds some fun playability in the recreation of the movie action!  I do love how DST did the hair on the head piece as a tampo instead of trying to get the helmet to go over top of a hair piece since that would have been way too huge!

Day 413

Day 413 February 17^th

TRU exclusive Mr. Negative

This is one very interesting looking character and Minimate.  I know nothing about the character having not read any current Spider Man titles in awhile but the look and the bio is interesting enough.  I do love DSTs use of the separate tie piece to be able to have him displayed jacket-less and show off the yin yang tattoo on his back as well.  All in all a great Minimate with great detail, especially for using a black and white colour palette!

Day 412

Day 412 February 16^th

TRU exclusive Fantomex

To complete the set started with the Uncanny X-Force box set comes the Fantomex Minimate.  While many would rather have him in his original white costume I rather enjoy this look but that might have to do with the fact that I am currently reading that comic from start to current right now to check it out.  I think DST has captured the look from the source material quite well and it is always nice to round out teams!

Day 411

Day 411 February 15^th

TRU exclusive Betsy Braddock

This is a bit of an odd Minimate in my mind.  This particular version of Betsy dates back to her earlier appearances and I can honestly say I did not expect to get it as a Minimate.  It is a statement like that that shows DSTs level of commitment to the Marvel line!  To top it off I think they did a great job with such a plain look to begin with!

Day 410

Day 410 February 14^th

TRU exclusive Magneto

This is undoubtedly one of the best Magneto Minimates that have been made to date, in my opinion anyways.  The colours are dead on and the facial expression is great!  I have been on the Marvel Minimate train since the start and I love how DST just keeps getting better and better with what they do with these guys!

Day 409

Day 409 February 13^th

TRU exclusive Zero

            DST really did a great job with this Zero Minimate from the first wave of Marvel vs Capcom 3; he looks so cool I am actually interested in playing the Mega Man games he is in to see what he is all about.  The chest piece is a bit on the bulky side and limits the arm movement which is a downside to this otherwise awesome figure!

Avengers Movie Minimates debut

Breaking News!  The Avengers Movie Minimates reveal

Straight out of the liveblog with DST on Marvel.com comes the images of The Avengers Minimates including the debut images of Hulk, Hawkeye, Black Widow, Loki and Nick Fury!  The last 4 of those being part of the TRU wave.  There are 3 more Minimates in the comic store wave that cannot be shown yet - 2 mystery foes and Maria Hill!

Exclusive Premiere!

Exclusive Premiere – Marvel TRU Wave 13

Today brings a debut to the blog, well 2 debuts in fact.  One being the new section to Portrait of an Addiction – a news section where I will make additional posts to cover news releases related to our favourite toys Minimates!  The second debut is the EXCLUSIVE PREMIERE of the lucky 13^th wave of Marvel Minimates to hit Toys R Us!

This wave consists of a nice assortment of characters from across the Marvel Universe and out of the 8 Minimates in the wave 7 are brand new, only the Daredevil will be a repeat, being the same as the one slated for wave 43.  In this assortment we have:

Ø      Spider-Sense Spider-Man and The Punisher – This is the first new Punisher Minimate since the Punisher: War Zone box set and is based on his first appearance where he took on none other then Spider-Man!  Appropriately Spidey comes with a removable spider-sense effect to help him dodge the Punishers attacks!

Ø      Daredevil and Kingpin – The first Kingpin Minimate goes all the way back to the very first wave of Marvel Minimates in 2003 and this new one is a welcomed update thanks to DSTs new big-body design for bigger characters like the Hulk.  He is packed with his long time foe Daredevil in his traditional red costume!

Ø      Mirage and Magma – Heading into the X-Men side of the Marvel Universe DST brings us two highly anticipated New Mutant favourites in Mirage and the fiery Magma!  Both of these are first timers to the Minimates line and will help round out anyones New Mutants collection!

Ø      Boomer and Rictor – DST flashes back to the 90’s with these versions of Rictor and Boomer from X-Force.  These two all new Minimates fill out the roster of that record breaking comic team and give mutants fans a couple more characters to add to their collection!

Look for this assortment in Toys R Us stores and online at toyrus.com in March!